Politics on the Hudson

Going by time on the dais and the number of flattering comments he received, you’d make Long Island’s Tom DiNapoli the favorite to be the next state comptroller.

It was as if colleagues were throwing roses at his feet during the two hours the Democratic assemblyman was at the microphone. Republicans gushed even more than Dems.

“Tom DiNapoli has never said a cross word about me or any other Republican,’’ Sen. Dean Skelos, R-Nassau County, led off.

“You’re fair and focused,’’ said Sen. Ken LaValle, R-Suffolk County.

“I hope I don’t damn your candidacy with Republican praise,’’ said Assemblyman Fred Thiele, R-Suffolk County.

A Democrat called DiNapoli “Mr. Clean.’’

  DiNapoli, by far, the most time too. Westchester County biz exec Bill Mulrow got about 90 minutes—but he was the first interviewee, when all the TV cameras were there as well as 40 or so legislators. The rest of the time, the number of legislators fluctuated just above or below 20.

 (I asked Assemblyman Jeff Aubry, D-Queens, if legislators’ turnout was a clue about a candidate’s chances. With a laugh, he said turnout “was all about cameras, not candidates.’’)

 Westchester Assemblyman Richard Brodsky got about 1 hour, 15 minutes on stage as did Rochester-area Assemblyman Joe Morelle. James Larocca, who ran in 1998 in a Democratic gubernatorial primary, got about 30 minutes. Several of the unknown candidates got 15 or 20.

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